


When I First Met You, There Was A Garden

by whitenoise17



Category: Halsey (Musician), PVRIS (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-08-31 15:49:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8584363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitenoise17/pseuds/whitenoise17
Summary: Ashley works the evening shift in a flower shop. Lynn goes inside to escape some rain and decides to buy some flowers. Hopefully you enjoy!





	1. White Carnations

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this might be kind of rushed writing but Chloe (@aintitfun on tumblr) was talking to me about Ashley/Lynn and I really wanted to write something. Not too sure where it's going but I hope you all like it! Also, I'm @homestown on tumblr if you want to ask me anything or something idk. Leave a comment of you want, I appreciate it!

Lynn didn’t really plan to go to the flower shop that evening. She had been there a couple times, mostly in the morning, to get flowers for her apartment or to give to her mother. But on that Tuesday afternoon, she just wanted to get out of the rain that started while she walked home from rehearsal with her band. Lynn thought it probably looked weird to stand in the store and not buy anything, especially because her black clothes and partially shaved head stood out among the pastel blossoms and gentle fairy lights of the shop. So she sifted through piles of flowers, eventually settling on a small bouquet of white carnations.

By the time she found them in one of the buckets displayed in the window, the rain was down to a light drizzle. The counter was all the way in the back of the crowded little shop, and Lynn couldn’t see it for all the flowers in the room. She ventured to the back of the shop, where a beautiful girl with long blue hair sat behind the counter, wearing a white dress and a backwards baseball cap. She had headphones on and was focused on looking at some sort of map. Lynn cleared her throat quietly and set her flowers on the counter.

The girl pulled out her headphones and Lynn could hear the strains of her music like radio static. “Sorry! I was just… Never mind. I’m Ashley, how can I help you?” Ashley smiled, and Lynn handed her the flowers to ring up. 

“So, you have a date tonight?” Ashley asked. She didn’t sound nosy, just genuinely curious.

“No, is there a reason I should?” Lynn replied. She hadn’t talked to a girl in a while, not since she broke up with her last girlfriend. She had focused on her art, her music, and her work since then. She just wasn’t ready for another heartbreak.

“White carnations. They mean love. I just kinda figured.” Ashley shrugged apologetically. Lynn smiled, thanked Ashley, and left the store, cursing herself for being so awkward. That probably could have gone worse, but it definitely could have gone a lot better. She walked back to her apartment in the light rain and the fog that had set in. The flowers went into her one good glass vase on the kitchen table, where she’d see them after she finished showering and be reminded of the pretty girl surrounded by blossoms.


	2. Pink Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lynn goes back to the flower shop. I don't want to make these chapters too long so more will happen in the next one, sorry! Also, I'm considering adding some more characters, so maybe that'll happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! I have no concept of time so there's not really going to be scheduled uploads, but I will try my very best to finish this quickly. I sort of have ideas about where I'm going with it figured out too...

Three days later, Lynn had rehearsal again. She was nervous about the practice, which was unusual. Singing was always relaxing for her, even if playing shows was stressful. But she had finished a new song the night before, and it was one of her most personal ones yet. She completely trusted Brian and Alex, but it was still nerve-wracking to show them the new lyrics. After that, the flower shop seemed like it would be a good place to calm her nerves for a minute. She didn’t know if Ashley would be working, but Lynn definitely hoped she would. 

There were a few people browsing through the flowers, but Lynn passed them and headed for the back counter. Ashley was standing behind the counter again, and she smiled at Lynn and waved her over.

“You’re back! Did you pick anything yet?” She seemed excited to see Lynn, but maybe she was just happy to have a returning customer. Lynn didn’t want to read too much into anything. 

“Nope, I can’t decide. Any recommendations?” 

“Pink roses. You seem like you could use a little touch of color. And they mean admiration or appreciation, um, if you were wondering.” Lynn took the roses Ashley held out. They smelled beautiful, and Ashley was probably right. Lynn had been living in black and white for too long.

“Yeah. I like them. Thank you. And I think it’s amazing that you know what all the flowers mean and stuff.” 

Ashley laughed. “I don’t know what all of them mean. Like..." She paused. "Rhododendron. Who the hell knows what a rhododendron means?” Lynn grinned and Ashley blushed a little bit and looked down. Lynn felt her heart beat faster. Maybe Ashley really did like her, too. She paid for the roses and walked to the door.

“See you later!” Ashley called. Lynn waved at her and walked out onto the sidewalk, still smiling. There was a definite possibility of… something. Or maybe it was just the roses.


	3. Lilacs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lynn asks Ashley out. This is very cliche but ? I like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda bad because I wrote it during bio class, but I figured it was time to advance the plot™ so here!

Lynn went back to the flower shop whenever she had the chance. Ashley was there almost every evening. In fact, Lynn had only gone once and not found her there. She sometimes worried that it was a bit weird to show up that often, but Ashley didn’t say anything. Not until one night, when Ashley was closing up and Lynn was still browsing the flowers in the window.

Lynn was focused on the buckets of flowers, finding the perfect sprig of lilacs, and didn’t notice Ashley standing next to her until she spoke. “Hey. I don’t mean to be rude, but is there a reason you’re here every day?” Ashley blushed. “Because… well, if you’re here for, um, something other than flowers…”

Lynn’s face went red. “You’re really cool and I like you. This is embarrassing, but I guess I just like it here. I like seeing you.” Lynn realized that as much as she liked Ashley and as much as she hoped Ashley liked her, they barely knew each other. Ashley was probably weirded out right now.

“Wait, really?” Ashley’s face was only slightly less red than Lynn’s. “I was asking because I was hoping-” Lynn grabbed her hand. 

“Ashley.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to go out with me sometime?”

“Yeah. I would,” she smiled. Then she leaned over to Lynn and kissed her on the cheek before handing her a piece of paper. “Call me. But right now, you have to leave because I was supposed to close the shop five minutes ago. And the lilacs are on the house.”

Lynn left the store with a stupid smile on her face. The flowers in the vase on her table reminded her of Ashley, and she couldn’t wait to call her the next day.

The next morning, Lynn woke up late. She figured Ashley was probably up by then, so she made herself a cup of tea and found the piece of paper with Ashley’s number and her phone.

“Hello?” Ashley answered.

“Hey, it’s Lynn.”

“Lynn! Hi.”

“I was just wondering if you were free anytime next week, if you wanted to go somewhere with me.”

They made a date for the next Thursday, and talked for almost an hour before Lynn had to go to work. Lynn headed off to her job still smiling from their conversation.


	4. Red Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lynn & Ashley's first date. They go to an aquarium also they may or may not have their first kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting somewhere with this! It's still a short fic so there's not tons of details but I hope that's okay. I do my best but I've barely written fiction in the last few months because of school so I'm a little rusty. I hope you like it anyway!

Thursday couldn’t come soon enough. Lynn drifted through the entire week, dreaming about the date while also trying her best not to think about it. She didn’t want to set her expectations so high that it wouldn’t come out right no matter what. 

When the day finally did arrive, the seconds passed agonizingly slowly until 3 o’clock, the time they were set to meet. Lynn walked to the flower shop to meet Ashley after her shift, and then they took the subway downtown. The subways were actually very nice, although anyone who could actually afford a car would never admit it. Ashley sat close to Lynn, and Lynn could smell the scent of flowers on her. They talked about music, and Ashley, claiming it was “the best album ever written, holy shit,” played Lynn part of a vaudeville-inspired record, not caring that they were in a full train of people. Lynn actually kind of liked it, as strange as it was.

Once they got off the train, they started walking towards the main park in the city. There was a zoo/aquarium combination that only cost a few dollars’ admission, and they decided to go in and look at the animals. Ashley was enthralled with the aquarium tanks. She stood in front of them, holding Lynn’s hand and pointing to the fish she liked, her blue hair blending into the water in a dreamlike haze. Lynn wanted to take a picture of her and draw her later because she just looked so beautiful, but that was probably weird for a first date, so she just snuck glances at her between getting excited about the marine creatures they saw.

The train on the way home was less crowded than the way there had been. Lynn told Ashley about her art, and Ashley asked if Lynn could bring some drawings in next time she came by the store. Lynn was so happy that someone wanted to see her art. She was used to her art and music being of little interest to people who weren’t working on it with her. And besides, Ashley was an artist too. Lynn shyly asked her if she could see her work, and Ashley agreed. It was, to put it simply, a wonderful day. Lynn wanted it to last forever, but eventually the train stopped and they walked back to the store. 

“Wait a minute,” Ashley said, running into the store. She came back with a dozen classic red roses. “It’s cliché, I know. But cliché’s alright sometimes, y’know?” Lynn nodded. She leaned in and kissed Ashley, who exhaled a little before sinking into the kiss. Lynn’s hand found the back of her neck, and Ashley pulled Lynn closer. They pulled apart and Ashley handed the roses to Lynn. 

“We should do this again. Really soon,” Ashley said, walking backwards towards the store.

“Definitely.” This was probably the best day of Lynn’s life. Definitely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so bad at writing kiss scenes oops but I hope y'all enjoyed! Leave me a comment or hmm on tumblr @homestown if you liked this, it means a lot.


	5. Petals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lynn writes a song for Ashley, and they talk about art. More will happen soon!

A week later, Lynn went to rehearsal with a new song called “Aqua.” She didn’t necessarily want to put it on the album that her band was planning to self-release, but she wanted to record it and give it to Ashley. She only had a little bit of the song done, a verse, or, with a little work, the bridge.

 

_Everything was aqua blue,_

_That day I found love in you._

_Subway cars and rose-colored kisses,_

_Oceans of water, our petal-covered riches._

_Holding your hand in the dreams and haze,_

_Wishing this could last for all our days._

 

After Lynn was satisfied with the clip of the song, she walked to the now-familiar flower store. Ashley met Lynn on the street outside the shop, carrying a few huge, colorful paintings. They were so different from Lynn’s careful pencil sketches, and Lynn loved them. They walked to the café down the street. Lynn carried her sketchbook, guitar case, and the laptop she kept the band’s work on. Ashley maneuvered her paintings and a pot of flowers through the doors and sat down while Lynn went up to get the coffee. She had a little bit of anxiety about it, but it wasn’t even close to where she’d been after her girlfriend broke up with her months ago. She was getting better, she noted. It felt good.

 

Ashley had spread out her paintings on the table so Lynn could see them; their brilliant colors and messy lines making them feel bright and complex. Lynn handed Ashley her sketchbook.

 

“You can look at it if you want. It’s mostly anatomical studies and sketches, but there’s probably a few landscapes or something in there.”

 

Ashley leafed through the book slowly. Lynn wanted to look at her face as she took in the drawings, but that was a very good way to get anxious, so she looked at the paintings on the table instead.

 

“These are… great. The detail on them is amazing. And they’re all different but they feel the same. It’s really, really good. Seriously, it is!” Lynn couldn’t stop smiling as she thanked Ashley. She had shown Ashley a piece of herself with the drawings, and Ashley had liked them. Not only that, she felt like Ashley understood them. Lynn hoped she felt the same about Lynn’s response to Ashley’s paintings.

 

They hadn’t really known each other for that long, and there was still a lot they didn’t know about each other. She had only met Ashley a little more than a month ago in the rain. But they were connecting in ways that Lynn liked a lot, even if there was still lots for each of them to learn about the other. It was the best feeling, talking to Ashley at the shop every night while she arranged flowers or worked the counter, looking at her and knowing that they were heading towards love, or something like it. And now they were in a café, just being near each other in the way people who knew each other were. It felt like a big step, somehow, but Lynn wanted to take it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen I can't write poems but I wanted to try. If you have any comments on this poem or anything else, let me know below!


	6. Subway Stations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lynn shows Ashley the song and they start their 3rd date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm over halfway through wow... this took a little while to update because of the holidays and school and stuff but it's here! Also I don't have a flower-related name oops

Two weeks after the café, Lynn and Ashley had been on another official date, but they’d also hung out at the flower shop or at the café a lot. They were getting to know each other a lot better, and although some things about being in a relationship were different than what Lynn had remembered, it was wonderful. Every time they said goodbye to each other, Lynn couldn’t wait to see Ashley again. 

They had their third date scheduled for tonight, and Lynn couldn’t focus at work, she was so excited. They were going into the city for a walk and to take some photos for a project Ashley was working on, and then they’d pick up dinner and go see a movie. It wasn’t a complicated date, but Lynn was nervous anyway. She wanted to show Ashley the now-finished song that she had been working on since right after their first date. It was finished now, with instruments and a sample of the ambient noise in the aquarium Lynn had gone back to record. It was actually one of the best songs she’d written, if she did say so herself.

That evening, Ashley met Lynn at the subway station to ride into the city. They had a bit of a wait for the next train, so Lynn pulled out her phone.

“There’s something I want to show you, if that’s okay,” Lynn said to Ashley as they stood on the platform.

“Of course, what is it?”

“Well, I’m in a band, you know? And this is our newest song. I think you might like it.”

Lynn handed Ashley her phone and watched as she put on headphones and pressed play. At first, her face just showed concentration on the music, but as the words started, a smile spread across her face as she realized who it was about. By the end of the song, Ashley was wearing the biggest smile Lynn had ever seen.

“Did you like it?” Ashley leaned over and kissed Lynn, in the middle of the platform as people got on and off trains. Subway stations were a great place for beginnings, Lynn thought as she closed her eyes and sank into Ashley’s kiss.

When the train arrived, they still had their arms around each other, smiling a little as their lips parted. They kept holding hands as they stepped onto the train, and Ashley sat down on Lynn’s lap as they rode into the city. Lynn felt like actual girlfriends for the first time. 

“Lynn?” Ashley asked. “Can I call you my girlfriend? I mean, is that okay with you?”

“I was just going to ask you the same thing.”

“Then we’re officially girlfriends now?” Lynn nodded. This was the best thing to happen to her since… well, probably since ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and tell me what you think so I can improve™ !


	7. White Carnations (Again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashley goes to Lynn's show and well...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long (literally ages... wow) but I hope you like it anyway! I should finish the last two chapters soon, so stay tuned™

Later that day, Lynn texted Ashley a link to the song. “here’s the song I played you earlier, in case you wanna listen to it again sometime,” she typed, and attached an image: a scan of a flyer for her next show. It would be nerve-wracking to have Ashley watching her perform, but since singing was an important part of Lynn’s life and she thought Ashley might enjoy the show, Lynn went for it. A few minutes later, her phone beeped and Lynn saw a message from Ash: “thanks babe! i’ll be there for sure.” 

Lynn practiced hard, even scheduling a couple extra rehearsals over the next week so that the show would be perfect. When the day finally rolled around, Lynn was full of anxiety for her entire shift, and it didn’t go away afterwards, while she got ready for the show. It was stupid, really. Ashley liked the first song Lynn showed her; there was no reason to believe she wouldn’t like the rest. Of course, this didn’t help very much.

An hour or two later, Lynn was backstage, desperately trying to track down her bandmates before they went on in fifteen minutes. If they could just stay backstage, but no, they had to go out into the audience to enjoy the other bands. Well, if they weren’t back on time, that was their problem. Not that Lynn could really do much without a band. As she debated between rounding them up and hauling them into places and saying fuck it all, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“I hope it’s okay that I’m back here,” Ashley said, holding a bouquet of white carnations, the same kind Lynn had gotten the very first day she met Ashley. “These are for you, although it’d probably be better if I held onto them until after the show.” Ashley laughed, and Lynn leaned in and kissed her. She relaxed into Ash’s arms, ignoring the rest of the world, even when her guitarist started throwing crumpled paper at her and talking about how there were 5 minutes until they went on. Finally, Lynn broke off the kiss, squeezed Ashley’s hand, and walked onstage. 

The microphone was intimidating, but Lynn walked up to it like she had been playing shows her whole life, although really they’d only started doing public gigs a few months ago. She looked out to the audience for a second, then glanced backstage at where Ashley had been standing. 

“Hello! Before we start our show tonight, I wanna dedicate this to anyone who’s out there and who’s thinking about how in love with someone they are, cause that’s what this first song is about. This is called Aqua Blue.” The intro to the song started, and Lynn took one last look into the audience. Ashley was there, smiling so beautifully that Lynn had to look away for fear that she’d forget how her own song went. 

Throughout the show, Lynn caught small glimpses of Ashley during the set. She was so beautiful, and Lynn was so in love. As soon as the show ended, Lynn rushed off stage. She packed up her equipment and walked over to Ashley.

“That was amazing!” Ashley was talking loudly to be heard over the next band, and Lynn didn’t even bother replying. She just kissed Ashley, picking up where they left off before Lynn went onstage. Throughout the night, they spent more and more time getting physical with each other, until they left together. Ashley’s apartment was only a few blocks from the club, so they walked, holding hands excitedly until they were inside.


	8. Maps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mornings after / road trip plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to finish, school was A Lot recently so I cut this a little shorter than I originally wanted to, but I hope I wrapped it up okay!

The next morning, Lynn woke up in Ashley’s arms. They were curled up on Ash’s bed, wearing each other’s shirts from the last night. Sunlight was streaming through the window and falling on the potted plants Ashley had a garden of along her wall. Lynn kissed Ashley’s forehead before untangling herself, standing up, and heading to the kitchen in search of a glass of water. 

Hanging on Ashley’s wall was a map covered in pushpins and pencil lines. Lynn suddenly remembered the first day she met Ash, when she was looking at a map something like this one. Lynn didn’t want to pry, but she figured a quick look couldn’t hurt, so she walked up to the map and looked at the cities Ashley had marked.

While Lynn examined the map, Ashley woke up and went looking for Lynn. She found her in the kitchen, tracing her fingers over the lines on the map.

“Good morning,” Lynn heard from behind. She quickly pulled her hand off the map.

“Hey. Sorry, I didn’t mean to snoop or anything.”

“It’s fine. Um, I’ve never really left the city, so I just like to mark interesting places I wanna go someday.” Ashley looked a little embarrassed, but Lynn walked over and took her hand. 

“Pick somewhere, then.” Ashley looked over the map for a long minute before naming Los Angeles. Lynn was already planning a road trip in her head. California with the girl that she loved sounded like the best way to spend the next few weeks.


End file.
